Billy Porter to Host Tectonic Theater Project's Annual Benefit Cabaret Featuring Joaquina Kalukango, Michael Urie & More

Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award-winner Billy Porter is set to host Tectonic Theater Project's annual benefit cabaret, A Tectonic Cabaret, Monday, October 3, 2022 with a cocktail hour at 6:30 PM and performances at 7:30 PM at Chelsea Factory (547 W 26th Street). Directed by Timothy Koch, an all-star cast, lead by Tony Award-winner Joaquina Kalukango and Michael Urie with additional names to be announced, will take to the stage to perform a variety of popular musical selections.

The evening will honor the late James Catherwood Hormel with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Amy Stursberg with the Inaugural James C. Hormel Award. Hormel was the first openly gay U.S. ambassador and a philanthropist who finded organizations to fight AIDS and promote human rights. Stursberg is the Executive Director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation and CEO of Schwarzman Scholars and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Education Foundation. Both Hormel and Stursberg have been longtime supporters of Tectonic Theater Project.

"Our first edition of the Tectonic Cabaret in 2019 was one of the most joyous and celebratory events we've ever produced," said Moisés Kaufman. "Bringing the Tectonic family together to honor our champions and experience the best talent New York City has to offer, in a gorgeous setting with decadent food and drinks, it's divine!"

"I'm thrilled we're honoring both Jim Hormel and Amy Stursberg at this year's benefit," said benefit co-chair and Tectonic board member, George Slowik Jr. "In addition to his historic Ambassadorship, Jim was a profoundly influential human in so many arenas: a social justice advocate for autism awareness, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights, the arts, education, and so much more. His husband Michael's establishment of the James C. Hormel Award in his honor speaks to Jim's devotion to Tectonic's artists and his decades long commitment to our work, none of which would be possible without the fierce advocacy and tireless devotion of Amy Stursberg, a beloved member of our founding board."

Tickets for the star-studded evening start at $250 and are available online at TectonicCabaret.com. Proceeds from the cabaret will benefit Tectonic Theater Project's development of new works and education through the Moment Work Institute.

Based in New York City and guided by founder and artistic director Moisés Kaufman, Tectonic Theater Project develops new plays using the company's trademarked theater-making method, Moment Work, and through a rigorous process of research and collaboration in a laboratory environment. Since its founding in 1991 the company has created and staged over twenty plays and musicals, including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project, Doug Wright's Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, and the Tony Award-winning 33 Variations. Tectonic Theater Project's newest world-premiere play, Here There Are Blueberries, just completed a critically acclaimed run at La Jolla Playhouse.